In a supermarket or the like, a method for scanning a bar code or a two-dimensional code (for example, QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark)) attached to a product using a dedicated scanning device is generally used. There is also a self-checkout machine in which a customer oneself operates POS (Point Of Sales) terminal directly. In any case, in a product to which a bar code is attached, a trouble to search for a position of the product where the bar code is attached may occurred, or the POS terminal operation may take time.
Further, for a product to which a bar code is not attached in advance, such as fresh food and bread, a package or the like is separately prepared and a bar code needs to be attached. Accordingly, extra trouble may occur. Although there is a means in which product data of a product to which a bar code is not attached is inputted by a store clerk with a keyboard of an operation screen of a POS-terminal, a big difference in input time of product data sometimes occurs depending on proficiency of the store clerk.
In order to improve the above-described problems, a technique is proposed in which a product is imaged with a camera or the like equipped in a POS-terminal device and the product can be recognized from the captured image data using an image-recognition technique, even for a product to which a bar code is not attached.
For example, PTL 1 discloses a technique in which, when passing a product over a camera equipped in a POS-terminal to scan the color, shape, and package of the product, the scanned image is checked against a database in the terminal in real time and the product, price, or the like can be automatically inputted. In the technique of PTL 1, a product bar code used in a supermarket or the like becomes unnecessary.
Further, PTL 2 proposes a POS-terminal in which a scanning unit is configured by a half mirror. When a product is passed over the surface of the half mirror, a subject image of the product, in particular, a bar code, is reflected in the surface of the half mirror, and thus, the POS-terminal according to PTL 2 has an advantage that an direction of the product can be easily determined when the product is passed.